Shute Shield 2010

[fatprop]

My thoughts


Uni
Charles looks bloody effective
Burgess adds so much speed of moving the ball
Barnes is a quality pro, great player, 8 goals from 8 .....................................
Inman did very very well
Carter, a pest, a competitor, tackles whatever is front of him, chases hard, takes tackles to settle and is a pest.
Jono Jenkins, bloody quick


Souths
Palmer, damm fine THP, but doesn't do too much else, my prediction will be on the edges of Super rugby until a Euro club snaps him up
Douglas, a real effective hard working lock
Samo, lazy

 

[Lee Grant]

Anybody know why Sievert hasn't been playing for SD lately? If he's fit, he and Gamgee would have made a better halves pairing.

I thought it was a higher quality game today than the semi yesterday, though that is faint praise.

Everybody has said everything I wanted to mention but I thought that the following did their chances of being EOYT smokeys no harm were:

2. Nathan Charles
12. Mitch Inman
5. Kane Douglas

Only a club game I know, but Douglas showed what potential he has as a tight head lock.

11. Lachie Mitchell showed us what potential he has for the Melbourne team also. Surely he won't be another Aussie who appeared to play well for a European club and be unexceptional after returning home.

 

[Jnor]

Last I heard he was 108kg and that might seem a bit surprising he is a bit of a unit and has a lot of strength behind him too (at least in the gym)

While he might be a niggly player on the field apparently he's a great bloke in person and I haven't heard anyone who's met him say a bad word.

 

[naza]

I will go so far to say the Pirates made a big mistake in starting him over Vaea who made huge inroads when he came on. Samo is better used to come on with 20 or 30 to go and under strict instructions to leave nothing in the tank.

West Harbour are the Pirates, Southern Districts are the Rebels.

Samo is 34 and has a lot of miles on those legs. I thought he had a strong game and was the pick of the loose forwards.

I've defended Tom Carter from plenty of G&GR critics over the years. Can't defend him when he plays like that. Nathan Charles showed more toe and skill in his midfield break than Carter did all game. Uni other than Barnes showed little skill but they simply outwork you.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

One more observation from all of the Shute Shield this year - Tom Carter is involved in at least one off field push and shove which he initiates. I really do not like him as a player and hope to see Hangers, Barnes, Horne for the Tahs next year.

Yep. Nearly every week he seems to be involved in some sort of niggle. Is it frustration at being outplayed from time to time or is it a symptomatic of a lack of brains or some sort of anger management issue? Either way, it shits me to see him fighting every bloody week. Blokes I played with who did that you just wanted smack around the ear.

 

[Informer]

"Nathan Charles showed more toe and skill in his midfield break than Carter did all game. [/QUOTE]

Charles was a centre in his early days with the Wahroonga Tigers and still has a good turn of speed. A very busy and effective hooker, love his work rate and aggression.

 

[DPK]

Yep. Nearly every week he seems to be involved in some sort of niggle. Is it frustration at being outplayed from time to time or is it a symptomatic of a lack of brains or some sort of anger management issue? Either way, it shits me to see him fighting every bloody week. Blokes I played with who did that you just wanted smack around the ear.

I think he does it for the same reasons Burger attacked the face in the past and the same reason Bakkies is such a hard c*#t around the field. It takes the opposition's attention off playing the game and onto trying to "Get Carter", if you will.

 

[observer]

We saw the emergence of a young star yesterday. Half back Dewet Roos is only 20 years old and I was very impressed with his game. Great passing, can put a player through a hole, solid defender and had a nice try assist for Kaurauria-Henry.

They said he was 82 kg but I would suggest he is around 75 kg. But don't let size fool you with this fella. The old adage that it isn't the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog applies to this bloke. As a youngster he was 5 times NSW and Australian Wrestling champion.

 

[topo]

Anybody know why Sievert hasn't been playing for SD lately? If he's fit, he and Gamgee would have made a better halves pairing.

Serious ankle injury from what I hear. Speaking of which, it sounds like Jerry Yanuyanutawa had a fracture/dislocation of his ankle yesterday. Likely to be a long term injury. It's a shame because he's a good guy who is just getting started at the Super Rugby level.

 

[Lindommer]

Dewet Roos...(a)s a youngster...was 5 times NSW and Australian Wrestling champion.

This HAS to be the trivia quote of the year. Well done, o, more please.

 

[qwerty51]

Anyone else like the look of Sean Doyle? He really throws himself into everything at 110%

 

[Elfster]

It seems that some of the main commentary about the games was the state of the fields and also the "amateurish" appearance it had on the TC coverage, especially relative to the NRL and AFL games. I thought yesterday's game was better viewing than the Randwick/ Eastwood game despite it not being as close. Berrick Barnes has been in outstanding form for the Students in the last few weeks. Is he a bit of a "flat track" bully when playing against lesser opposition or has his overall game picked up: he seems far more balanced and settled than what he was at the Waratahs. It is good to see Southsu p there this year - one only hopes they keep on improving next year. It is good to see the more "amateur" clubs like Souths, Manly etc go well in the Shute, though there is a certain inevitability at the end of the season when they falter when some of the other clubs get their playing stocks replenished.

 

[centreman]

Regarding the Shute Shield looking amateurish this is entirely due to the pathetic grounds, small attendances and the state of the pitches not the quality of the players on show.
Before each Sunday semi I have watched the NZ club games on Fox and the stadiums, fully grassed pitches and reasonable crowds give the whole experience on TV the impression of being professional despite IMO the standard of the players being no better than Shute Shield.
How can you say that in this weeks games at least it is amatuer rugby with over a dozen capped wallaby players and plenty of Super 15 players in all teams. I would venture to say that the Sydney Uni team was better than anything the Melbourne Rebels will put out next year.
There are only 3 grounds with surfaces worthy of semi-finals and they are Concord,Coogee and Warringah. The rest are no better than cow paddocks.

 

[Albert]

Not sure if it has been mentioned already, but great effort by the Wicks to have all four grades in the GF this weekend. Fantastic result, given the depth was stretched very thin about a month ago.

Add to that the 1st grade colts made the semi-final (before being smashed by Uni). The only unfortunate thing is the fact the depth in 2nd / 3rd colts does not match the rest of the club. Still, 2010 will be viewed as a good one for the club.

 

[fatprop]

Coogee is not a decent oval at this time of the year, no ground where a player is concerned to go to ground one side is "worthy"

 

[louie]

How can you say that in this weeks games at least it is amatuer rugby with over a dozen capped wallaby players and plenty of Super 15 players in all teams.

Easy.
-lots of drop ball
-no really attacking play, just one out running

 

[fatprop]

It seems that some of the main commentary about the games was the state of the fields and also the "amateurish" appearance it had on the TC coverage, especially relative to the NRL and AFL games. I thought yesterday's game was better viewing than the Randwick/ Eastwood game despite it not being as close. Berrick Barnes has been in outstanding form for the Students in the last few weeks. Is he a bit of a "flat track" bully when playing against lesser opposition or has his overall game picked up: he seems far more balanced and settled than what he was at the Waratahs. It is good to see Southsu p there this year - one only hopes they keep on improving next year. It is good to see the more "amateur" clubs like Souths, Manly etc go well in the Shute, though there is a certain inevitability at the end of the season when they falter when some of the other clubs get their playing stocks replenished.

Barnes was pretty effective once he got used to the set up in the S14 and Carter went to 12.

He will probably run the same 9/10/12 structure for the Tahs as was played on Sunday, especially as the second playmaker will be Beale from 15

 

[fatprop]

Anyone not impressed with Beale's defensive work on Saturday, the guy has gone from being a speed bump to a effective tackler

 

[Lee Grant]

This HAS to be the trivia quote of the year. Well done, o, more please.

observer has good mail for we trainspotters. From the lad's surname (famous in Bok rugby history) it looks like we have another family in Oz from the rainbow nation - and his christian name would resonate over there too.

He played well for a 20 y.o. but SD needed somebody with a bigger backlog of experience in senior rugby - and the same goes for flyhalf Morath also.

Watch this space on Roos.

 

[observer]

Anyone not impressed with Beale's defensive work on Saturday, the guy has gone from being a speed bump to a effective tackler

It was a good ball and all tackle he made on big John Grant close to the line. Saved a try.